Think Exercise
The positives attached to exercise are nearly limitless. If you want to feel better, look better and stay healthy, exercise is a must.
For people with asthma, exercise in the spring is a risky proposition. Watching others walk, jog and bike out your window may have you forgetting about the poor experiences you had last spring, but the air quality mixed with exercised-induced asthma can present a challenge not worth taking.
Since exercise is too important to skip, try to keep your exercise confined to indoors. If your home feels less conducive, try heading to a nearby gym for a change of scenery. Try to find a workout spot with large windows and bright lights to mirror the feeling of outdoors.
If you can’t live without that walk around the block, experiment with different times of the day when asthma targets are low.
Think Landscaping
Spring brings a set of responsibilities not found in winter: landscaping and yard maintenance. If you live in an apartment, consider yourself lucky to not have this stress to consider. The grass needs to be mowed. The shrubs need to be trimmed. The flowers need to be planted and the beds need to be weeded.
Sure, it would be simpler to pay a professional to care for your outdoor needs, but the costs can be too restricting. If it is on your shoulders, proceed, but proceed with caution. Try getting work done early in the morning or later in the evening when pollen counts tend to be lower.
Choose work days based on the influence of humidity and rain on your symptoms. A particle mask might be a good option to keep triggers out of your system.
If the environment is not right for you, don’t push your luck. Whatever you needed to do today can wait until next weekend. A nicely manicured yard is not worth your health.
Think Parties and Picnics
Springtime is synonymous with picnics, family gatherings and celebrations. Attending these events can put you at risk of higher symptoms as campfires, pollen, flowers, weeds, insects and even insect repellants can trigger your asthma.
With this being the case, let others know how your asthma in spring is and offer some modifications that work well for you. They may not know that citronella and bug sprays bother you. A little education can go a long way.
Think Spring Cleaning
The spring risks are not confined to the outside world. Inside, the risks are the yearly spring cleaning ritual. Scrubbing your home from top to bottom is no fun in the first place, but a clean home can reduce indoor asthma targets.
Be sure to use cleaning products that are effective for cleaning while being harmless to you. Stay away from cleaners with heavy fragrances and chemical smells to lower your risk. Look at labels to check for ones recognized as being environmentally safe, as these tend to be safer to people with asthma.
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